How long will it take a charger to charge batteries?
It’s pretty easy to estimate how long it will take. Simply divide the capacity of the battery by the charge rate of the charger, then increase the amount of time by about 20% to allow for a certain amount of inefficiency. As an example, a battery with a capacity of 1600 mAh will require about 4 hours to be fully charged by a charger with a charge rate of 500 mA. (1600 mAh/500 mA x120%). Incidentally, this example would apply to a standard AA NiMH battery and a typical “rapid charger”. Keep in mind that a battery that is only partially discharged will be recharged in less time. If this seems too complicated, please use our Battery charge-time calculator.
